KPDGO

We are planning our first visit to Ireland. 6 adults (4 grown children). We are flying in / out of Dublin and staying at a hotel there the first and last night of our trip. The seven nights in-between we are considering renting a 'self-catering' house in the Galway area and taking day-tours from there. One house in particular seems appealing in Renville Village. Here are my questions: Is Renville Village / Oranmore a good base? Is the water safe in Galway, or should we avoid the area (and change our plans)? Thanks.

wojazz3

Renville (or I guess Rinville also) is a pretty good location. It will give you faily easy access to Connemara and Co. Clare. Getting into Galway from Rinville is pretty easy and I there may be a bus service in from Oranmore. Oranmore is home to Oranmore Castle which is privately owned, but if you ring the bell, the owners will give you a tour. They request that you throw some money into the Castle upkeep fund, but I believe the bulk of that money is being used for Guinness purposes.

I don't see when you will be traveling so hard to say on the water. My understanding was that the water issue was going to take up to 6 months to fix.

I think that in general, it's a very good choice being that there are a lot of options for everyone, including city life, lots of castles in the area and a trip out to the Aran Islands is certainly an option. I could go on and on. The water issue is a little harder for me to help you with.

Bill

KPDGO

Thanks for your prompt reply, Bill. We're leaving May 30 (less than a month!) and returning on June 10th. I've been reading that the Galway town council is telling residents to boil water before using it. So, I'm a little concerned.

anchoress

Please do not let the water situation deter you. Bottled water is very easy to get here these days. Large bottles in every supermarket; and surely everyone who rents out houses in Galway will be very well geared to the needs and will do all they can to ensure normal bookings. Galways is a beautiful place; enjoy it.. Blessings.

CAPH52

I just wrote a very long response that disappeared when I hit preview. But I'll try again!

I was in Galway in late March/early April just after this whole thing started. My daughter is still there. If you were going to stay in a B&B or a hotel, I'd tell you not to worry about it. It's just a matter of drinking bottled water and brushing your teeth with it. A pain, but certainly not worth skipping Galway. But since you're planning to rent a house, and I presume prepare meals, it's a bit more of a hassle.

My daughter is living in a house in Knocknacarra, a suburb of Galway and is doing just fine. But one of her housemates got quite sick a couple of weeks after the boil order was put in place. While I don't think he'd been drinking the water, he was brushing his teeth with it. Truth to tell, I suspect my daughter still is (despite my nagging)! As with anything else, I'm sure it's a matter of how strong your immune system is. I wasn't willing to take that chance and made sure to brush with bottled water.

I haven't thought to ask her about it lately. But, as Bill mentioned, when I left they were expecting that it would take at least six months to fix. So I'm assuming it's still a problem. I'm going to e-mail her and ask just what the situation is now. But I might not hear from her for a few days. It's a bank holiday weekend and they were talking about doing some traveling. In the meantime, I'm sure you'll hear from others who are there or have been recently.

chatham

KPDGO,

There are so many places on this earth you have to drink bottled water including brushing your teeth, ice cubes and cooking. It is not too great a hardship to handle. I would not let it deter a visit and stay. Now, you might have to remind your young adults.

Have a wonderful trip, Joan

CAPH52

That's a good point, Joan! We're just all so spoiled. We take so many things like water, electricity, etc. for granted. We tend to forget that many people get by very nicely without! And, in many cases, at least in terms of the electricity, they may be better off!

One of the things that came up in our conversation with Thomas, our tour driver on Inis Mor, was how much more people visited each other before television! He also mentioned that there were many more haunted houses and such back in the days before good lighting. I thought that was an interesting observation!

Of course, no electricity would mean giving up my computer and Fodor's....!

anchoress

many of us in rural areas use wells/natural springs or buy water as a matter of course. In Glencolumcille, this is often true; they do not trust the mains water, with what justification I know not. I was told that they put a lot of chlorine in all at once!! And often the water is brown in peaty areas.Many also have private supplies, often "run-off" so buy water for drinking/cooking etc etc. You soon get used to it.. I have lived in several places in Ireland and always needed to bring in drinking water.

Poohgirl

Hi KPDGO: One thing you need to know: Beware of the dynamic currency conversion when making purchases with your credit card. It is very widespread in Ireland, and you'll need to be very watchful. Some (not all) merchants might try to bully you into accepting it, but hold your ground. They will give in if you stand firm.

Ireland is beautiful. Have a wonderful trip.

CAPH52

I got an e-mail from my daughter this morning. She said nothing has changed there and isn't expected to anytime soon.

amberose

I was just reading these posts. Can anyone tell me what a dynamic currency conversion is?

giggles36kd

Amberose, I was wondering the same thing. I remember reading that Irish merchants will try to charge our credit cards in american dollars saying it is better for us but in fact it's not. Why? I can't remember but hopefully someone will come along to explain. I'm headed to Ireland in a few weeks and made a mental note not to allow them to do that, isn't it awful I can't remember the reasoning behind it though!

Padraig

DCC is bad because they convert to US$ (or other currencies) at very bad rates. Don't worry too much about the reasoning: simply refuse it.

CAPH52

Good advice, Padraig! I have to chime in here to say that I really didn't have any problem this past trip. When we were there in March of '06, three or four times I was charged in dollars without being asked. That didn't happen at all this time. I was asked a few times this year, but only once was I given even the slightest argument about it. And, in fact, one time the merchant asked <i>me</i> what the difference was!

KPDGO

Thanks to everyone for your advice. This is invaluable help. We're going to go to Galway, for sure. And we'll just have to be careful about purchasing bottled water.

bob_brown

The bad aspect of dynamic currency conversion is that it takes a watchful eye to spot it. I now ask before charging: &quot;Is my charge in x or US dollars?&quot; where x is the local currency.

If in dollars, I tell them to charge me in the local currency. If the clerk refuses absolutely after you tell him or her that you are NOT paying in dollars, then you may have a problem. If possible, pay in cash. If cash is not readily available, write on the charge slip: Local currency refused. Disputing charge.

When you can, notify your credit card issuer that you are contesting or disputing charge such and so.

I am told that you will win.
Do a search on that topic on this forum and read some of the advice others have given.

Itallian_Chauffer

amberose and giggles36kd:
You wrote: &quot;Can anyone tell me what a dynamic currency conversion is?&quot;
I'll try.
The SHORT answer is that DCC ocurrs when your credit card is charged in US dollars instead of in the local currency (Euros, in the case of Ireland - although it also ocurrs in other countries).
The reason that this is a BAD thing is two-fold:
1) You are usually charged at a VERY poor exchange rate versus what the Credit Card company would charge,
AND
2) MOST (but NOT all) US credit cards assess a 'Foreign Transaction Fee' of 1-4% for processing a foeign charge. They collect THAT fee REGARDLESS of what currency the charge is transacted in, even US dollars.

So,
If you are charged in US dollars for a purchase in Ireland, you'll pay a 2-4% premium for the &quot;priviledge&quot; of paying in dollars AND a 1-4% &quot;FEE&quot; for the transaction.
You can't do much about the credit card fee, other than find a bank card that either doesn't charge that fee, or only passes on the 1% that Visa or MasterCard charge (since THEY actually perform the only 'service'involved, but you CAN avoid the BAD exchange rate, by insisting that you are BILLED IN EUROS.

NOTE THAT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CHARGE SLIP NEXT TO THE SIGNATURE LINE, THERE IS A LEGALLY REQUIRED STATEMNT THAT THE CUSTOMER (THAT'S YOU) HAS REQUESTED (OR ELECTED OR CHOSEN) TO PAY IN THEIR HOME CURRENCY (US dollars, in this instance). Once you sign THAT, you've been had and have NO recourse.
As noted, Some have reported success by writing &quot;Billing in Euros not permitted/offered&quot;, or similar.

I've been told repeatedly that it is only PRICED in US dollars, &quot;for information purposes&quot;, or that 'the computer' does it automatically, and they can't transact the charge in Euros. Mostly, I believe the clerks involved really BELIEVED that they were telling the truth -- as far as they KNEW.
It's a management thing -- a business decision to &quot;pad the bill&quot;, semi-legally, to collect an extra 3 or 4 per cent. Since that 'washes' the fee that MasterCard or Visa charges THEM on each credit card transaction, I'm sure the owners/managers feel JUSTIFIED.

For me, it's less about the relatively small added cost. It's more about the ETHICS.

Hope that helps --

Bob